I'm not sure if any of you remember me posting a couple months back about getting my new boxer puppy Ella at only a couple weeks old. I come back to the forum today with bad news. My Ella has suffered an untimely and brutal death. Thanksgiving night I brought her in as usual and she laid down in the corner of my room without running around sniffing and trying to get into everything as she normally does. The next day I had to wake her up at 10 a.m. Normally she is waking me up at 6 a.m. to go outside. It did seem off to me of course but with the holidays and all the company I figured she was just exhausted. We were gone most of the day on Friday and when we returned we found her laying in the corner of the yard, not feeling well at all. I double checked the dogs had not run out of water and they hadn't. I gave them fresher water and she did not want to drink. It was her dinner time so I tried to feed her and she refused to eat. I immediately knew things were not okay at all. I called my vet and she said that she may not be feeling well due to the colder weather and I should keep her inside more often. If I felt like I needed to, I could bring her in. My vet is over an hour away unfortunately. I suddenly feared parvo even though she's been vaccinated and there was no other dogs around (other than my chihuahua of course). I called an old friend who works at the animal shelter and has worked there for 20 years. She said to start giving her Pedialyte and chicken broth and see if she would take that. I made her some chicken and she refused. It went to waste, not a big deal. I couldn't get her to drink Pedialyte so I got 1 of my babies bottles and cut the tip so it flowed enough for her and bottle fed her. When she refused the bottle I took a medicine dropper and put it in the back of her throat so it could go down. I put her in the laundry room with the baby gate up to keep her away from the kids and Max the Chihuahua. I set my alarm and every 30 minutes or so I went in and gave her more Pedialyte and attempted to give her anything that she would eat (as far as chicken or dog food). Finally morning came and I decided to do another inspection on her to see if she had been bit by anything as well. She had no swelling no bite marks no blood no anything. No signs of what was wrong. No throwing up no diarrhea. I called my friend & she said she could give her an injection of electrolytes and then I needed to call the vet back again. Saturday they told me it was not parvo being that it had been over 24 hours and she had not suffered vomiting or diarrhea. So she told me to give her some aspirin to make her feel better and make sure that I hydrate her. Again giving me the option to drive an hour and see her but have to pay several hundreds of dollars for emergency care, which I couldnt afford up front. I was determined that I could do the at home care that she needed until monday morning. Saturday night I did an inspection on her again. I noticed that her gums had become paper white. I called my friend once again and she said it sounded like a diabetic attack. I grabbed honey and started getting her honey in her mouth forcing her to swallow it. After 10 minutes I checked her and her gums pinked up! So I began to do this every 10 minutes for a couple of hours. Until her gums were fully pink again. This showed me, or at least I thought, that this was a diabetic attack. I continued to give her honey and the Pedialyte until I could get her to the doctor to be tested. Then she began to urinate everywhere. This is the first time she had urinated since, I'm assuming, Thanksgiving. Regardless, I have never been so happy to have my dog pee inside the house. She began to urinate frequently which I thought was a healthy sign because that meant she was getting fluid in her to be able to urinate out. Still my alarm was set for every 30 minutes and I hadn't slept for more than that in between since Thanksgiving evening. Around 2 a.m. in between 1 of the 30 minute breaks I heard her crying out. I checked her gums and they were paper white again, so I began frantically giving her even more honey than I had been doing to try and get them to pink up quickly. It wasn't working but she had stopped crying. In the morning I called both my sons father and my dad to see if they have been around any dogs that were sick or any poison that could have possibly made her so sick. My dad said that he had laid some bait out but not where the dogs could get it and my sons dad said the dogs my son was around were not sick at all. By Sunday at lunch time she seemed to be doing better. I finally got her to stand up alone and walk a couple of steps. She even ate a handful of dry dog food out of my hand. I was so happy yet so exhausted from the round the clock constant care. Sunday evening... that's when it turned black. I got her to stand up again but this time she seemed to be in a lot of pain. I noticed as she walked a few steps 1 of her paws was bleeding. So I went to inspecting her again. I didn't see any reason why her paw should have been bleeding. No cuts, marks or anything out of the usual. So I packed it with neosporin and cotton balls and Ace bandaged it. I had an appointment with the vet in the morning. Still with my alarm set every 30 minutes I laid down for what I didn't know was going to be the last night with my baby. After the 5am checkup, just as I was falling asleep, I heard her let out the most horrifying scream. A scream I will never forget. I rushed into the laundry room to check on her. She was drooling from the mouth and it had traces of blood. Her ace bandage, pillow and blanket were soaked in urine. She had a bowel movement but it contained blood as well. I grabbed a new blanket and wrapped her in it and began to rock her rubbing her head. She whimpered and it scared me. Her body felt like it was going to break as much as thin glass would. I began to sob on top of her telling her that I had tried. I tried to save her life and I just knew it was too late. She couldn't open her eyes so I decided to try and open them for her. They were very cloudy and 1 of them was completely bloodshot. I could tell at this point she was probably completely blind. I called the local vet and told him I would be there at 8 o'clock and we were going to have to take an extreme measure with her. As a side note, the local vet did not offer emergency care. Hazards of a small town. I brought my kids to school because I didn't want them to know what was going on exactly. I didn't want them to have bad days. I rushed back to the house to get Ella and I found Max crying at the baby gate. I looked over and could not find Ella. There was no way out of my laundry room. So I was extremely scared. It turns out she shimmied herself behind the freezer. I feel it's probably happened because she couldn't see where she was going. And then she just got stuck because she couldn't see her way out. I got her into the kennel and we went to the vet. As soon as we got there the vet rushed us back. He took 1 look at her and said this is not diabetes. This is not parvo. Did she happen to have any access to rat poison since she had been sick. I said not that I am aware of. I told him what my dad had said and the vet replied that this is a typical case of a puppy who had ingested rat poisoning. I became furious with my father. He must of dropped some or made a careless mistake around my dog's. I feel like he is the reason my Ella is no longer with us. I guess we all want to blame someone when we lose a loved one. He had told me that she would have to ingest a lot if it were going to kill her. Not true. Well I had to decided to put her down. She was no longer going to ever be the same dog. She was blind and the doctor was sure she suffered brain damage from being so sick all weekend. Especially if she was bleeding from her rectum her mouth her foot and her eyes... I lost control and just began bawling over her body. He gave her the shot and she was gone in 2 seconds. The doctor told me the only reason she lasted so long was because of the care I was giving her at home. I thought I was saving her life, it turns out I was just prolonging her painful death :'( When the vet and the vet tech left the room I just began crying to her 'I tried Ella! I tried!' over and over again. I Paid for her to be buried in the Pet cemetery so my children could visit from time to time. I went to my dad's office and I yelled at him. In front of his business partner and all of his workers as well. I was so angry at him and I didn't even get compassion and/or an admittance that a mistake COULD have been made. My 9 year old son, Max and Ella were inseparable. They were a mini pack. Max and my son took it the worst. My 2 year old girls just kept asking to see her but of course they can't understand why she lives in heaven now... Rat poisoning. Are you kidding me?! I'm so devastated. I have never had to put that much care into an animal before. Nor have I ever been faced with a situation where I needed to put that much faith and perseverance into my fur babies. I thought that when she tripped me coming to the front door it was a bad thing. Turns out I kind of miss the battle. We had our differences but she was 1 of the best dogs I've ever had. We have bonded since she was a tiny little puppy. And now she's gone forever :'(

My best friend closed her eyes today, As her head was in my hand.

The Doctor said she was in pain, And it was hard for her to stand.

The thoughts that scurried through my head, As I cradled her in my arms.

Were of her youngest puppy days, And OH... how she loved to play.

Today, there was no gentle nudge with an intense "I love you gaze",

Only a heart thats filled with tears remembering our joy filled days.

For my Boxer Baby in the sky who has left my loving arms,

I won't stop to ask or wonder why, because I know she is free from harm.

Omg I'm so sorry, my best possible wishes to you and your family. Please do not beat yourself up. You did a wonderful job, ella now knows how much her momma truely loved her. You did the best you possibly could, and she is in no more pain.

Thank you. Its hard at night especially. I dont see her on my floor and it hurts. My son came home from school today and cried because some kid laughed when he said he was sad his best friend died. Its rough. Our dogs are family you know?

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Originally Posted by kielbasavw

Omg I'm so sorry, my best possible wishes to you and your family. Please do not beat yourself up. You did a wonderful job, ella now knows how much her momma truely loved her. You did the best you possibly could, and she is in no more pain.